The present invention is directed to a non-spillable drinking container.
In the past there had been a need for an effective non-spillable drinking container. There are many applications where such a drinking container would be extremely desirable. Applications include anywhere where there is a need to prevent spills of fluids being drunk, such as soda, and there is some increased reason for the likelihood of spillage. For example, soda pop dispensed in movie theaters in drinking cups often results in the spillage by children of some or all of the soda pop on the floor, carpeted aisles or even seats, especially during the drinking process. Even with respect to adults, very often the adult will discard the cup of soda on the floor before the cup is completely empty. Unfortunately, the cup is often kicked or bumped over by a patron or otherwise upset before it is removed by the cleaning personnel at the end of the day. This results in a sticky mess on the floor of the theater which involves additional cost in cleaning.
Additionally, such a non-spillable drinking container is highly desirable in other applications where there is an increased probability of spillage during drinking, such as in hospitals and nursing homes with debilitated patients and in moving vehicles, such as airplanes, boats, ships, trains and automobiles.
A non-spillable liquid drinking container is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,948,453 - Drown. Drown discloses a capable cup in which a perforated straw is spring mounted within a cylindrical tube within the cup. Downward pressure on the straw forces a portion of the straw out of the cylindrical tube to enable flow of liquid through the straw.
It has also been known to utilize a flexible wall container for the dispensing of fluids, such as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,153 - Devlin. Devlin discloses a drinking utensil having means for insertion of a permanently hermetically sealed refrigerant capsule and a valve operable by positioning a dispensing tube.
None of the prior art discloses a non-spillable drinking container which does not allow spillage even should it be dropped to the floor in a turned down manner. The non-spillable liquid drinking container disclosed in the Drown patent has a removable top and furthermore, if it hit the floor in an upside down manner, the drinking straw would be forced against the spring allowing flow out through the straw. The device of Devlin does not provide a non-spillable feature unless the outflow valve is manually closed. In accordance with the present invention, there is no need to exercise any manual control and the non-spillable drinking container of the present invention automatically provides a non-spill function.